Diwali is not the same anymore

This month has been full of festivals and work. With absolutely no time for SD and constant calls today though it is working weekend I managed to take some rest and a couple of blogs.

On 5th was AD’s b’day I managed to bake the cherry chocolate cake that Akay posted. I just altered a couple of ingredients which I would post in the blog shortly. SD and AD loved it so much. Thanks A-kay

Then there was karva chauth on 17th. The only festival when ma would dress up. She would look her best unlike most the days where she would never bother to even change her earnings she would be dressed in the best of sari, jewelry and make-up. She loved this festival. As for me I loved this festival just for mom and hated it for a long time and still I don’t know why I am doing it. My ma did not ask me to, my in-laws do not celebrate it but somehow on my own I unknowingly started it. This year I managed to survive the hustle-bustle at work and fast without water and food also found two more Punjabi ladies to do the pooja at 4.00. SD found it so amusing that mama is waiting for the moon and kept telling me that he will find it for me and he kept asking me are we going ‘tata’ then why are you all dressed up.

Then there is diwali coming up on 28th and SD’s b’day. SD was born on Choti diwali (a day before diwali) so my mom celebrates his b’day on that day too. As such he is a Halloween baby and his b’day is fast approaching. Project freeze date is also 31st Oct so anyone in IT can imagine the state I am in.

Diwali in our house used to be a huge affair. Now it isn’t the case but mom still insist on doing the shakun and cleaning and she did try the best she could on my first diwali after marriage and SD’s birth but I and she know what we were thinking and the fake smiles.

Diwali celebrations back home used to start almost one month in advance with cleaning, painting the house and distributing sweets to family and friends and everyone coming home to give sweets too. Everywhere we would go we would be offered nuts and sweets and a mandate to eat. In our house mom would take out all the sliver plates, the silver nut boxes, mom would be very strict with us not empty the nuts and dirty the place ( :) ) initially mom and dad used to go to every house to distribute sweets and once me and my bro were big enough we would be given the list and boxes of sweets to go around and only the very important people (elders) mom and dad would go. These days people are becoming health conscious instead of sweets people are distributing nuts, gifts, sugar free sweets.

On the day of diwali since we have been in Chennai for long we would wake up early since by 4 am people will start bursting crackers in the colony and we (me and my bro) would not be allowed, we would quietly watch and though not in our custom mom would still insist on we all taking a good oil-bath and then we would be all excited to go to dad’s office for the pooja where he would normally close the old account book and start a new one and then burst some crackers, distribute sweets to everyone in office and back home after a good lunch we would sleep and wait for the evening.

Evening we all would adore our new clothes mom start the pooja light the diya and me and my brother would decorate the balcony with the diya’s and wait for mom to finish the pooja and after the pooja most of the north Indians would gather up wish everyone a happy diwali with all the sweets, gujia would be a must and then we would start bursting the crackers, dad was a big fan of crackers and so we would always have enough and I remember it would go on till 12pm or 1pm easily and the last used to always be the 10,000 wala ladi… that would go flying everywhere and not stop for a long time…

Now diwali isn’t how it used to be, just a week before diwali and few days after karva chauth we lost the person who meant the world to us. Now diwali is the most difficult of the festival for me to survive. I need to be happy follow most of the formalities and not show mom how I am feeling and not let her feel sad , it brings in happy memories and tears at the same time for all. God does like to play funny games after a few years almost on the same day he put SD in our life’s and now we still don’t know if we should rejoice or remember but I know deep down diwali is not the same anymore for any of us.

Palak Paneer

Being a punju how can I not cook/like palak panner but as a kiddo I used to hate this since I did not like spinach but then now being a mom myself I try and find different ways to make my son eat his greens and well I end up making egg in spinach gravy, potatoes in spinach gravy and since SD loves shrimp, I even cook shrimps in spinach gravy.


Ingredients

1. 1 pack of baby Spinach (Sam's).
2. 1 onion
3. 2 tomatoes
4. Ginger about 1 teaspoon
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. Pinch of hing
7. Salt as per taste
8. 1 teaspoon garam masala
9. Red chilly
10. ½ teaspoon Coriander powder
11. ½ teaspoon Amchur powder
12. Sugar a pinch
13. Paneer.
14. 1 cup chopped mustard leaves
15. 1 teaspoon Jeera

Optional

1. Besan
2. Heavy whipped cream.


For Paneer

1. 1/2 gallon Milk
2. ¼ cup Lemon juice.

Steps to make paneer

1. Boil the milk Keep stirring it to avoid burn. Let it cool. Once it is warm re-heat and keep adding the lemon juice till it curdles.
2. Wrap the curd in a cheese cloth or a clean white cloth. Squeeze well. Tie a knot and place something heavy on the paneer still wrapped in cloth. This will help squeeze out extra water and also give a shape to the paneer.
3. Let it stay for 30 min to an hour. Once done cut the paneer in your desire shape.
4. I prefer not to fry the paneer but AD likes it fried so for this recipe I fried the paneer.

Steps to cook the gravy

1. Boil the Spinach and mustard leaves. Drain excess water and make a paste of the greens.
2. Make a paste of Onion, ginger, tomatoes
3. Heat the oil.
4. Add hing, Jeera and the paste of onion, ginger, tomatoes
5. Once the puree leaves the oil. Add all the dry masalas expect for garam masala and sugar.
6. Add the spinach and let it boil
7. At this time if you think that the gravy is too watery then dry roast besan and add it to the gravy. (If you are using only spinach this might be the case but with mustard leaves generally the gravy is thicker).
8. Add paneer (or below substitutes) and let it simmer in the gravy, add a pinch of sugar and garam masala and leave for about 5 min.
9. If you like you could add heavy whip cream to it at this point of time. I did not.
10. Enjoy it with Nan’s or rotis.

You can also substitute Paneer with

1. Fried Potatoes to enjoy aloo saag.
2. Fry shrimps and add them to the spinach gravy. Marinate the shrimps with salt and turmeric before frying.
3. Boil eggs, cut them in halves and add them to the same gravy.

A Good weekend

Thanks to silver dollar city, celebration city I was a kid all over again, enjoying the rides, roller coaster, the giant swings. All I was busy thinking was which ride to go next, absolutely carefree for the time I was inside the theme park.

After a long time enjoyed a great holiday I did not want to go to any of those nature places this time not that I do not enjoy them but this time I am missing people, the crowd, the noises so I wanted to go to a place full of people and activities plus enjoy a lazy weekend the last minute plan with SP,SM, AD, Me and SD was the best thing to happen. Small group of like minded people no expectations we were going to enjoy and relax.

A friend of mine just that day updated his orkut OMGIF ( Oh my god it is Friday and things invariably go wrong at work on Friday) it was true in my case. I tried my best to solve the things I could and rest well …. Done Packing, cooked some spicy pav bhajji while SP,SD, AD did some shopping all set to go on Friday evening.

We reached our Condo (Notch INN) in Branson and it was very cozy, small yet beautiful one. Enjoyed the evening being lazy unpacking and next day we left for silver dollar city and celebration city, SD enjoyed the rides to much and I can’t wait for him to grow up and come with me on all the rides that he could not go now. We all enjoyed the rides,we had planned a barbecue in the evening.

The 9.30 laser show at celebration city is captivating and fun a must watch. After the show we all tried our hands in the games and guess what even SD won a fish for now it is his prized possession and is carrying it around everywhere.

All set for the barbecue, fed SD put him in a portable crib and he slept in peace after a tiring day. While I threw some blankets, pillow and a fleece on me the rest sat on chairs and started cooking. Enjoyed talking about all the old movies, the songs, pulling each others leg, some funny comic/interesting incidents of our lives and finally the food arrived.

The next day again was full of roller coaster rides, fun frolic and thrill of the moment. SD broke the camera :( but all I could think of was my friend's (NN) quote “breakable things will break” and the next ride. After the rides we went to the downtown for a rock show and food. Landing is a beautiful place, the board walk is pretty romantic though it is filled with people and the location beautiful.

The next day icing on the cake shopping at the factory outlet, the joy of spending on your husband’s credit card is unbeatable :). All good thinks come to an end and this vacation of mine ended too.

SD is a big boy now, no diapers on the trip. He has not been using diapers for almost 3-4 months now but I was worried if during the trip he would tell me and he did. Watching him during the trip I just realized that time does fly feels like y'day when he was born and now he is talking, walking, no more diapers. Life sure is a roller coaster every time the ride is high it is fun but when low it isn’t.

hmmm My food blogs would have to wait till I get a new camera.

Happy Memories

I have been tagged and this is my first one :) yet I have taken a long break Sorry about that Laksh.

The one I remember still, I was maybe 3.5 or 4 years old. Dad was on a tour in Chennai and we in faridabad staying alone with mom, my granny was suppose to join us but I don’t remember why she did not. Anyway mom needed some milk but my baby bro and household work did not allow her to leave the house so she requested me to buy the milk from the nearby mother diary mentioning that I was a big girl. She gave me the exact change, a bag to carry the milk bottle and asked me to hold on to it tight so that I don’t break the bottle, she also requested the near by big kid to accompany me. I followed her orders and proudly went down met all my friends, we all decided to go together, the mother dairy was very close to the house so none of them bothered to tell their parents it was our play time anyway. We had a small park in between we all started playing and then I bought the bottle of milk, to amuse ourselves while walking back we decided to play chook chook train I was the last one so I told myself that the bag could also be a coach holding on tight I dragged the bag behind me and we all reached home.

Meanwhile a couple of uncles had all gone searching for us, the mothers all standing in front of the houses and as soon as we reached we all including the big kid had to listen to all the elders advising us and of course the scolding from everyone. My mom holding my baby brother saw me gave a sigh of relieve and then scolded me for being irresponsible while the onlookers felt that she was the irresponsible one nevertheless I was so proud of myself for being useful. With a sheepish smile I pompously handed the bag to my mom wondering what is dripping from the bag she looked at it did not know should she laugh or cry, the bottle was broken :) She decided that she needs to carry me, my bro and buy the milk herself and till today she rags me about the incident and laughs at herself thinking what was she thinking to send me!!!!!

Thanks once again Laksh for tagging me

Ram- Ravan ?

Politics at work, everyone seems not to like that. I just read a good blog which was titled “Even Rama, Still being Rama, had to kill Ravana!!!".This name wedged my eye and I went ahead and read the blog though I am neck deep when it comes to work but it is driving me crazy and I really needed a break.

After reading the blog, I had to pen down my thoughts. The big question that lingered in my mind was in today’s world who is Ram and who is Ravan everyone is ready to kill but then who should they kill. Everyone at the face value is good; everyone you talk to seems like a friend. Politics affects the victim with a back door entry and the people who are near to you are often the culprit and sometime it can even be circumstances and innocent people. So you actually can’t pinpoint the reason, the person. At that moment whatever the victim feels is the truth for him/her is the real truth.

Today I got a friend request from the most unexpected person and on seeing his profile; he is nothing I have imagined. This blog, the friend request all made me wonder what we imagine and what one turns out to be is so different. So when there is politics all around and we do not want to be the victim and consciously not make someone else the victim how do we actually identify and how do we know if we are ram or the ravana.

Everyone seem to be nice as humans but everyone are on our best guards when it comes to official communication wondering what is the intention of the other people, watching our every step, trying to speak our best, type our best but an unofficial communication is so different though in the background we can never forget whom we are talking to.The model that we work on we never get to meet/see the people in real life.

Yes, it is true that lord ram the good guy had to kill the bad guy ravana but I still don’t know if this would work in the generation today since every other person would claim to be Ram and you just can’t identify who is true and who not. I am a strong believer of god and trust that Hinduism is a way of life but the blog actually made me reflect on the fact that lord ram killed Ravan to save his wife and in turn save the others and wasn’t ravana killed due to his own brother, who later was crowned the king.

Phew instead of a cooking blog I am writing everything else, but then again this is soul food for my thoughts :)

It still feels sad

An old manager of mine left the PCM group and when I read the mail for a moment I was not happy about it though I had always thought I would. I personally do not like her much nor do I dislike her. She has been there with me through my ups and down as my manager not done anything bad or good but most of all my association with her goes back to the time when the group was just formed.

With her most of the old timers have left the group and it is filled in with new people who maybe are more capable but still things have changed so much that there is no warmth of late or I do not feel it.. I could reach out to her for all the concerns I had, probably write a personal mail if required, invite her for a coffee, talk about family, work, share my happiness but now with all the new people around I don’t think I share the same association.

It really feels sad to see her go.

Kochu with Shrimp

Ingredients

1. Arbi - 10 pieces
2. Shrimps - half a bowl
3. Onion - 1/2 large
4. Ginger - small piece
5. Garlic - 3 cloves
6. Green chilies - 3
7. Oil
8. Salt
9. Tumeric
10. Red chilly powder
11. sugar a pinch
12. Tej pata
13. Hing
14. Panch poran
15. Water 1 cup
( you can make this at home, the ingredients are Jeera, Sauf, Kalo jeera, Methi seeds, Poppy seeds. The ratio is 2:1. 2 are for Jeera and rest all 1)


Steps

1. Marinate the shrimp with salt and turmeric for about 10- 15 min
2. Boil, peel and cut Arbi
3. Slit the green chilies
4. Chop onion, ginger, garlic very finely
5. Heat oil in a kadai
6. Fry the shrimps and keep them aside
7. In the same oil Add in hing, tej pata, panch poran
8. Add garlic, ginger, green chilies
9. Add in the chopped onions and fry till golden brown
10. Add in a pinch of sugar
11. Add salt, tumeric powder, red chilly powder
12. Add the arbi, shrimps and fry for a while
13. Add in little water and let it boil
14. Serve it hot with rice

Besan wali Arbi

Ingredients

1. Jeera – 1 tbs
2. Ajwain – ½ tbs
3. Methi seeds – ½ tbs
4. Sauf – ½ tbs
5. Besan – 4 tbs
6. Oil
7. Salt
8. Turmeric a pinch
9. Red chilly powder
10. Dhaniya powder
11. Amchur
12. Hing
13. Arbi
14. Garam masala


Steps

1. Boil arbi, peel and cut and keep it aside
2. Heat oil in a kadai
3. Add hing, Jeera, sauf, ajwaain, Methi seeds.
4. Add the besan and keep stirring
5. Once the besan is brown in color
6. Add salt, dhaniya, amchur, turmeric and Arbi
7. Stir for sometime and keep it on low flame add in garam masala
8. Once the arbi is fried well t is ready to be served with dal and rotis.

Arbi

Arbi in Hindi and Kochu in Bengali, the other words for Arbi are taro or colacassia.
I love arbi especially my mom’s besan wali arbi although I have tried it out ample number of times it does not come out like her but still of late I have managed to do a better job, it is very quick and simple.

I am also adding my MIL’s version of cooking Kochu with Shrimp which has been a big hit with my friends and all wanted to know the recipe. This one is also very easy and simple.

To see how Arbi actually looks like check this out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:P1080339.JPG

Aloo gajar aur Methi ki sabzi

Potatoes – 1 large
Carrots – 3 medium
Methi (dry)
Salt
Tumeric – 1 teaspoon
Red chilly powder – 1 teaspoon
Dhaniya powder – 1 teaspoon
Amchur – ½ teaspoon
Jeera powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam masala – ½ teaspoon
Hing – a pinch
Oil

Steps

1. Heat oil in a kadai add hing
2. Add the potatoes, carrots, methi leaves
3. Add in the dry powders except garam masala and cover the kadai and leave it on low flame
4. In-between just keep stirring the sabzi
5. Once the potatoes and carrots are cooked add in the garam masala and let it cook on low flame for 2 more minute
6. Serve it with dal and rotis.

On Cloud nine

I am on top of the world today. I finally managed to clear my driving test and get my license. I am already dreaming and feeling more independent though I am sure I would hardly get a chance to drive but still I am happy. For a change I have really kept up to my resolutions. This year I had decided on three of them one was to get back to work.be myself and not what I was turning out to be staying at home. Second was to clear my driving test.I still have to work on the third one but I am sure I should be able to manage it. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

I know it isn’t a big deal after staying in the US for two years but I am in high spirits like a child, I called home, could feel the delight in mom’s voice. I know how happy she would be she is the one who has always advised me to not let go, she has been a big influence on me, my strength. She was the one who told me that it is okay to be a mom but does not mean that you give up your dreams.

For now I am proud of my little achievement and on cloud nine.

Temple vists

I come from the city of temples and to me a weekly visit to a temple has been an internal part since I was kid and it never occurred to me that I would miss this aspect.

Since we do not have a temple in Bentonville our temple visits our restricted only for special occasions and with all the constraints it is not possible to visit one every weekend. Although I have a small pooja ghar in my house but still it isn’t anything like a temple.

Every time I would visit one I would be filled with serenity, the whole atmosphere of the smallest temple would be enough to give in the extra hope that is required. The chanting of the slokas in one corner, the sound of the bell, the familiar poojari , the archana, the aarthi.

I wonder if my 2 year old would feel the same though for now whenever he visits one he is all excited about the drive and is amused by the big murthies that he sees and says “Mama big jay jay”.

Mutton Keema

This recipe is from AD. I come from a veggie background and I learned to cook NV from AD and my MIL. For the vegetarians substitute the keema with Soya granules.

Ingredients

1. Minced Mutton – 1 LB
2. Onion - 1 large one
3. Peas – 1 cup
4. Garlic – according to taste
5. Ginger -
6. Tomatoes – 1
7. Clove
8. Cinnamon
9. Cardamom
10. Garam masala powder
11. Oil
12. Green chillies
13. Salt
14. Tumeric
15. Ghee
16. Sugar a pinch
17. Tej patta


Steps

1. Heat oil and fry the peas with turmeric and salt till they are cooked and hardened
2. Puree the onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger.
3. Heat the oil in the kadai add tej patta, and the crush the clove and cinnamon
4. Fry the puree till it turns brown
5. Add chilly powder, salt, turmeric, sugar
6. Add Keema on low flame and cook till it starts to change the color
7. Add the fried peas to it and cook for another 10 min till the meat is cooked
8. Heat ghee add garam masala and add this to the keema and let it stand for 2-3 min on low flame.
9. Serve hot with rotis.

You could even make Keema samosas. Use this for filling

jaane tu ya jaane na

After a long time I watched a movie, had read the reviews and decided to forgo my sleep and watch this one and I am glad I did that.

It reminded me of my b’lore days, my gang and the crazy stuff we all did. The songs and dance sequence of the movie could not help but remind me of my ‘Mon Ami’ days, the ‘W ‘8.30 shuttle, the stupid dances the friendship which is still strong after 9 years. Touch wood. The dance on the way back … ‘there was a girl…:) ’, the Suk sagar visits. The crazy clothes, the morning fights. The good old days.

I am glad I watched the movie for one more reason it gave me and AD a break from our routine, a break from mails, calls, and work. Of late work eats up our time and the small pleasure of life of just sitting and not doing anything but laughing and thinking of our friends was fun and nice.

I think the movie might not itself be the whole reason why we like it. The memories attached to it or the once it reminds us of makes it special and this one sure did. I miss you NN. jaane tu ya jaane na… mane tu ya mane na……

Plum and Date chutney (sweet)

Bongs cook some yummy sweet chutneys and one of the Pooja’s I had been I tasted this and tried it out at home and AD loved it. So now this is one of the regular stuff in my fridge.

You could substitute plums with Prune.

Ingredients

3 Plums
10 Dates
Salt
Sugar
Red chilly powder
Tumeric powder – A pinch
1 tablespoon Jeera
½ tablespoon Black Jeera (kalo jeera,kalongi)
½ tablespoon Sauf ( Funnel Seeds)
½ tablespoon Methi seeds.
1 cup water


Steps

1. Chop the plums unevenly
2. Heat a kadai with water
3. Add plums (even the seeds) and dates.
4. Add salt, tumeric, red chilly powder and sugar
5. Cover the kadai and let it boil, stir it occasionally
6. heat oil in a pan and add in Jeera, kalo jeera, sauf and methi seeds
7. Add them to the plum and date mixture
8. Once the mix reaches a very semi liquid taste it and add in more sugar if required (depends on the plum).
9. Serve it with rotis, though Bongs would love it with Dal and rice.

Nutritional Profile
It is believed that plums are very good source of Vitmain C and A are a good source of dietary fiber.

A mom in dilemma

I can feel the work pressure now, the project is heating up from delivery standpoint and the crunch time is on and with no time to play with SD though it is summer the mom in me is wondering if this is really required? Today while reading a book to him I got a call from offshore and all I wanted to do was to go on read the book but then I had to take the call and tell SD to sleep all by himself and of late every night when he says “Mama no work, mama SD sleep” it just makes me feel even more guilty.

Today while picking him up from his day care the teacher showed me a circle and proudly said SD did it and she kept it inside his folder and I am not sure if I was happy seeing the circle or sad that it was not me who taught him that. I guess ‘Miss A ‘read my mind and said kids they grow up so fast and learn things we can never imagine and we parents don’t even know when and where they learn. I just smiled

The mom in me wants to quit this job right away but the women in me enjoys the time I get away from all the household chores, husband, kiddo and the little independence is something I don’t want to give up. How I wish work was just a 9-5 affair and not tiring and I could come back home and enjoy cooking, playing with SD.

Rava Dosa

Ingredients

Rava flour -- 7 portions
Wheat flour -- 2 portions
Rice flour and All purpose flour together -- 1 portion
Sugar a pinch
Salt
Curd - 0.5 to 1 portion or less
Jeera
Hing
Pepper Powder
Little cut Coriander leaves
Little cut Kadi patta


Add all the ingredients and prepare the batter with water. The consistency should be something like buttermilk.

Pour a small portion of it on hot tava.

Pour a little oil on the sides of the dosa

Flip it over and cook the other side too until nice golden color.

Enjoy your dish.


Tip from B – to 75% oil add in 25% ghee and use this mixture to pour on the dosa and it would give you a nice taste.

Tit-bits - Semolina can be used as an alternative to corn meal. Add a little roasted semolina while preparing the batter for samosas and they would turn out nice crispy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semolina

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients
---------------

Onion
Channa dal
Urad dal
Hing
Mustard seeds
Coriander leaves
Kadi patta
Coconut
Salt to taste
Jeera
Green chillies
Tamarid
Ground nuts
Oil


Steps

1. Dry roast 10 to 15 ground nuts and remove the skin.
2. Heat the oil add some hing, mustard, urad dal, channa dal, kadi patta, green chilies, little tamarid , Garlic (not paste)
3. Fry the onion well and add coriander leaves after you switch off the gas but the pan is still hot.
4. Let it cool a little and then add shredded coconut and peeled off ground nuts (Or Pottukadalai)
5. Grind it well it with some water and add salt to taste
6. Heat some oil, add in Hing, some kadi patta, mustard seeds and add it to the chutey . Can add Urad dal too if you like.
7. Enjoy it with some Dosas, idilies.

Did you know - Virtually every part of the coconut palm has some human uses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut

Impromptu Dosa party

B has come into my life like a breath of fresh air. It has been just few days that I have been with her but it is amazing, I am enjoying my lunch all over again, amazing and much needed coffee breaks and my only female company in office. It makes me sad to even think that she is here only for 3 weeks.

Today AD called up in the evening and told me that he is stuck in a meeting and I need to pick up SD. On a regular day I would have had to take a cab but B told me that she could drop me and pick up SD. On our way back home we decided to have tea and once she was at my place I offered to make some instant dosa :) I am big dosa fan and always find some or the other reason to have them but later we decided to make some fresh Rava (sooji, Cream of wheat) dosas and she told me while you run behind SD I can prepare the batter and coconut chutney and I was more than happy about the offer. It was like cherry on the icing :) So while I was doing my chores with SD she was preparing some awesome chutney and Dosas for us (my next recipe)

It reminded me of Chennai Saravana Bhavan Rava dosas. A wonderful impromptu dosa party.

In between she got a call and it was from her good friend 'N' who happens to be my senior.The world is sure a small place. Thanks a ton ‘B’ for an amazing evening and lovely dosas with awesome chutney.

Spur of the moment

SD (my 2 yr old) yesterday referred to the Rongi as baby rajama and I could not help laughing and think about my brother. I and my Bro have always been very fond of Rajama too and we would address rongi as Rajma ka bachha which translates to Baby Rajma. I wanted to call home right away but then for some reason I don’t know why, I waited till today morning. As usual Ma picked it up and I told her about it and her immediate reaction was to laugh and say you both used to call it like that too. Moms don’t forget do they :)

Well I wanted to start my recipe blog with something special and have been wondering what it could be. Today while at work my colleague ‘B’ asked me “what did you get for lunch today?” Black-eyed bean curry I mentioned and she was like wow how do you cook that so I told her the recipe and she said she would try it out and I got my first recipe for the blog. So what if it is simple and easy and a normal Punju dish it is still special and may be someone who reads my blog does not know about it :) so here I go with the recipe.

She also mentioned an interesting fact about black-eyed-bean it seems it is a widely used ingredient in soul food and on New Year day the American families cook this to bring in good luck and good prospects for their family and thanks to her for the photo too. Sometimes a spur of the moment decisions can make you so feel so good.

Black-eyed bean

Ingredients
--------------

Onion
Tomatoes
Ginger
Garlic
Green chilies
Salt to taste
Turmeric just a pinch
Amchur a pinch
Dhaniya powder
Jeera powder
Garam masala
Oil

Steps

1. Soak the black-eyed bean in hot water while you do the below steps
2. Puree the onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chilies.
3. In the pressure cooker pour oil and add in the puree
4. Once the masala is fried well, generally oil leaves the puree.
5. Add in salt, turmeric, dhaniya powder, Jeera powder and Amchur
6. Fry for a while on low flame.
7. Wash the soaked black-eyed bean and add them to the masala
8. Pour the water and close the lid
9. After one whistle lower the flame and 2-3 whistles later close the gas
10. Wait for sometime and open the lid add in some Garam masala and keep it for few min on low flame
11. Viola it is ready to be served with Rice, roti, parata.


Trivia - Black-eyed peas are traditionally eaten on New Year's Day in the American South and in some other parts of the U.S. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-eyed_peas

- Special thanks to 'B' for the pic, this is from her camera. Thank you 'B'

Blogging

A friend, I think I can take the liberty of calling her a friend though I have known her for quite sometime now because of common friends and of course work but I actually know her through her blogs and she told me "don't worry about how you write or what you write, the blog is just a medium to express ourselves. So long as you get the point across that's all that matters :)" and here I am all excited to share my recipes and stories with the big world of blogs.

Not that I am a great cook but I know I have matured as a cook and someday would be a chef. The difference between a cook and chef in my dictionary is someone who takes care of everything all the nitty-gritty details of food and also how the food is presented but for me it is more of making the food tasty and not goofing up :) so that my 2 year old eats yes the looks of the food do matter to me but presenting it is an art and I have not yet mastered it nor do I have the patience for standing long hours in the kitchen so I would rather call myself as a cook and not a chef.

Gone are the days when cooking something was a family secret passed on by the mother to the daughter or the mother-in-law to the daughter-in-law now if you need tips, tricks, recipes from around the world you just log on to the world wide web and search for it. Guess sometimes technology does help. I still remember as a kid I would sit on the slab of the kitchen chatting to mom and watching what she is doing and she would add something and look at me with a proud grin and say this is homemade "masala” not everyone knows about it and this is what adds a zing but this is a secret between us so don’t share it :) well mom for once nahhhhh one of those countless times I am not listening to you and planning to share all your secrets here with all the people who would read this.

Well with this let me start my soul food and I hope to add some soul to it and hopefully this is one of the hobbies that I continue.